Musique mystérieuse
by thingsaboutemmy
Summary: Cosette is a beautiful young girl working in a piano dealers. A mysterious stranger buys a piano and disappears again without a trace. Years later this mysterious man is woven back into her future and threatens everything Cosette holds dear.
1. Chapter 1

His jaw was set and his tone was sharp. This was not how it was supposed to go. The room was filled with a crisp, deafening silence. His wife, Cosette, sat on the chair wringing her hands, jiggling with her wedding ring. She was tired, and upset. He had found messages, several messages between Cosette and a man she worked with, confirmation of an affair he knew had secretly been going on.

"I don't know what to say right now." He picked up his coat and left the room, closing the door softly behind him. He heard Cosette's ripping sobs as he made his way outside.

Cosette still lived with her stepfather. She was nearly twenty-five and had met somebody particularly special. She did not know her father and her mother died when she was small, leaving her with her stepfather, who had been more than a father to her all these years. She worked in a piano dealers in Paris, and loved her job. She met many composers and musicians and adored showcasing upright, electronic and grand pianos.

She had been waiting for Luc to reply to her text all morning and was anxiously flipping her phone in her hand between firing off a few emails and handing out a few brochures regarding a new Yamaha series. She had met Luc in a pub a few months ago, and had been on a few dates with him since. She liked him, so much, the attraction sparked and flashed when she was with him. He was a young banker, tall and tanned with olive skin and black hair. He had strong features, striking brown eyes and a strong jaw.

When her phone beeped she leapt from her seat to the filing cabinet where she had left it. It was not from Luc, but from her friend Eponine, they were meeting for lunch in a cafè near the tower and she was confirming the details. Her heart sank and she returned to her chair, clicking through the screen and fiddling with her desk fan.

The door opened and a young, tall man entered. He had dark brown hair and a fair complexion, and he was most handsome. Cosette had heard the door but not looked up from her work. "Hi, can I help you?" she asked absent-mindedly. It was only then she looked up from her screen to the tall handsome man that stood ahead of her.

"I'm looking for an old upright piano, a dark wood, with ivory keys. Do you have any in stock?" He asked, his eyes scanning the showroom and his hands shifting in his pockets. Cosette stood and flattened her skirt, and steadily made her way over to the antique pianos, ever aware of the gentleman's stare on her back.

"We have this model, an old Bentley, from around 1930, an original masterpiece. It's old, and we will need to tune it." She stammered, not looking up to meet his gaze, intimidated by his beauty. The man studied the piano, lifted the cover and played a few notes. "I like it," he said, further studying the keys, and the back, lifting the cover to see the hammers, "I'll take it."

Cosette nodded, still looking at the floor. "Please follow me." She took the gentleman to a consulting table, and she passed him a few papers. "My name is Mr. Pontmercy. Marius." he said, leaning over to her, and their hands brushed. Cosette blushed and shifted in her seat, "My name is Cosette." She said timidly. Her eyes met his for the first time, and they exchanged a shy smile.

"Well, Mr Pontmercy, I believe we are all finished here." Cosette stood, and pushed her chair back under the glass table. Marius followed her lead, and stood. He walked around the table and stood beside Cosette. She shifted again awkwardly in his presence and wished she knew what to say. "May I play this piano for you sometime, Miss Cosette?" he asked, his voice rich with promise.

Cosette moved back to her desk and reached over for her business card. "Here," she said, passing Marius her card, "call me, or text, or email. Any is fine." Marius took her card and gave a soft kiss onto her cheek. "Your piano will be delivered next Thursday sir." She said, as Marius moved to the door.

"Thank you, Miss Cosette." Marius left the showroom, pulling the door to a soft close. Cosette did not think about Luc for the rest of the day, as the handsome stranger began to take his place.


	2. Chapter 2

**Eight Years Later**

She slowly packed the bag with lunch, a banana, some bread, olives and a juice box. Annie played in the living room, her school uniform becoming bunched and creased as she rolled on the floor with her dolls and teddies. She could hear birds outside as she switched on the oven to bake Annie's croissants for breakfast. "Annie! Breakfast!" she called.

A small minute later, Annie and her teddy came to the table for breakfast. As Annie and her mother ate, they heard the swing of the large gate outside and soon, the old wooden barn door creaked as a tall, olive skinned handsome man came into the kitchen. "Daddy!" Annie cried, jumping from her seat and running into her fathers arms. The man picked her up in one big swoop and lifted her high into the air before returning her to his hip to cuddle her.

"There is some left in the oven Luc," the woman said, standing from the table and giving the man a kiss on the cheek, "they haven't been out of the oven all that long." Luc sat Annie down onto the chair again and followed the woman up the stairs into the bedroom. "Cosette," his voice was nearly a whisper as she walked around the side of the bed and pulled a jumper over her head and over her swelling baby bump.

Luc walked over to her and pulled her into an embrace, he felt Cosette soften into his chest and he felt the baby kick into his side.

Cosette waved Annie off at the gate to school, Luc had gone off to work this morning after returning home from a night at his friends house. Cosette began to walk down the country lane back to their home, a converted barn in the town Chantilly. Just as she opened the gate to the house she heard footsteps behind her. When she turned, there was nothing to see. She shrugged her shoulders and entered into her home. The bread she had been baking earlier made the house swell with the flavours of freshly baked bread and lavender from the garden.

Cosette kicked off her shoes and settled onto the couch in the living room. The toys that Annie played with still lay on the varnished floorboards in their pretend tea party setting. Cosette leaned on the arm and picked up a magazine, idly flipping through the pages. She felt herself begin to relax, the baby kicking and her body starting to mould into the couch's material. Her eyes began to rest and her eyelids began to droop as she fell into a dreamless slumber.

She was awoken by her mobile phone ringing in the kitchen. She slowly got off the couch and made her way into the kitchen. "Hello?"

"Miss Cosette?"

"Can I help you? Hello?"

"Miss Cosette, we met many years ago, eight, I think, to be exact. You sold me a piano, an old Bentley. I asked if I could play the piano for you, but when I returned to you a year later you had gone. I searched everywhere for your card so I could call you. I found it today, amongst my old belongings after my grandmother had died. I cleared out her apartment in Paris. I had to call you. After all this time, every time I walked the streets of Paris I always looked out for you, I thought I would see you sat at a café, or walking down by the Seine, but I never did. Every single day I held out a hope for you, I checked every bus that passed, the papers to see if you had been in the marriage announcements, the birth sections or the deaths. I had only met you just once and you disappeared into the air like smoke. You were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen and nothing has ever come close to you.

My question is this. It has been years, I know this. I know that just because I have searched for you every day does not mean you have remembered me. Please meet with me, just once, so I can play for you."

Cosette stared down at her phone, and a sob erupted from her chest. She had waited years for this phone call, and it came six weeks before the birth of her first child. She could hear his silence on the end of the phone, the pause and hope crackling from the receiver.

"What is your name?" she struggled. She could remember it clearly. Marius. She wondered if he still looked the same as he did when she last saw him in the showroom.

"Marius."

Cosette closed her eyes and prayed for strength to know what to do next. She was aware of the grandfather clock ticking away in the background.

"Okay," she said, opening her eyes and focusing on the trees blowing outside, "I'll meet you."


	3. Chapter 3

They going to meet in a café, on the side of the Seine. He wore a pressed shirt, chinos and polished shoes. He stared into his coffee and waited for her. He wondered if she would look the same, he began to stir the coffee round and around until the cream began to make a whirlpool in the middle. He heard footsteps approaching the table and looked up from his drink.

There she stood, as if years had never passed. He still thought she looked as beautiful today as she did eight years ago. He saw her swollen belly and a knot formed in the pit of his stomach. She was and still is someone else's. He stood and held out a chair for her to sit, and hailed a waiter to come and take an order. Now she was here, he had no idea what to say. At first he suggested that they should run away and be together, to fill out some childish fantasy he had played in his head over and over for the last eight years.

She broke the silence first by clearing her throat and leaning over to him. "You look just the same." She said, with a small smile. He couldnt help himself and returned her smile. "Yes," he replied, "so do you." He hesitated. "There is one small change..." he said, and nodded toward her stomach.

"Oh," she said shyly, "yes. A boy. My husband already has a girl, Annie, from a previous girlfriend before me. She is gorgeous." Marius tried hard not to choke on his coffee. "Husband?" he managed. He had looked in the marriage announcements every day just to see if she had been taken and he had not been the one to do so.

"Yes. He is called Luc. He is an investment banker. We married in the West Indies four years ago." The waiter brought over some juice for her, and she sipped it quietly as Marius studied her face. He couldn't believe all this time she belonged to someone else. He especially couldn't believe she was pregnant, of all things.

"What about you?" she asked, still sipping her juice and watching young children with their mother walking along the riverside. Marius paused and thought of **É**ponine and stopped. "I have a girlfriend," he said, "we have no children. I met her eight years ago here in Paris and I think a lot of her. I don't know what our future holds, but I had to see you before I could commit myself to her properly. I wanted to make sure you were okay before I did anything."

"Marius," Cosette whispered, "why can't you just let me go? It sounds as though you and your girlfriend could be so happy together, if you let yourself love her and if you let her love you in return. I can't be yours like you want, and besides, you don't know me. You saw me once, eight years ago, so much has happened since then. I am going to be a mother, and you could be a father, or a husband, or anything you wanted to be with your girlfriend."

Marius fell silent. She saw him stare back into his drink and wondered if she had been harsh. What she had said had been truthful, and she had meant each word. She could not be his, she belonged with Luc. They would be a family. She could carry on as she had been, as if today hadn't ever happened and yet she knew that Marius could not.

"Her name is Éponine," Marius said, before putting some cash down onto the table to pay for drinks, "she is married to a man named Gavroche. He is a rich man, and he thinks he makes her happy by showering her with gifts. He thinks you do not need to love a woman to make her happy so long as you have money. I know this is not the case. I know that you need more than that, and I have tried to give her that. She wants to hold out on her marriage for a child to keep her company. What excuse is that for a child? For company? No, she doesn't know love. I don't know that I should be right for her. She comes to me sometimes, when she is sad, when she is lonely. I can't offer her more than that. My heart isn't in that for her."

He gave a small laugh and stood. His face darkened. "I came to see how you are getting on, and here I have my answer. You are just fine, Miss Cosette. I clearly wanted to be your knight on my steed to sweep you off your feet and take you away with me. I foolishly thought you would have no attachments and I am wrong. Now I reflect, it was stupid of me. Thank you for your time. Good luck with your new family and I wish you all the best. This money should cover the drinks. You have my number, and I know I don't have to add that you know I am always yours when you need me."

He stood and turned and didn't look back, despite Cosette's calls. She sighed and felt tears prick her eyes. How could she feel this way over a man she barely knew?

She felt a sudden urgency. She needed to go to the toilet again. Oh, she thought, the joys of being a hormonal pregnant woman. She left the café after using the bathroom, and walked slowly back to her car. By the time she got back to the car, rain had started to fall heavily and she was soaking through to the bone. She sat damp in her drivers seat and for the first time that day, she allowed herself to cry.


End file.
